


never mind I'll remember you this, I'll remember you this way

by ashintuku



Series: fox on the run [19]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: Developing Relationship, F/M, Gen, Unconventional Families
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-11
Updated: 2017-07-11
Packaged: 2018-11-30 21:30:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11472057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashintuku/pseuds/ashintuku
Summary: “And the rest of the ship? It hasn’t been so long that I’ve forgotten, Krags, theEclectorhad been huge.”





	never mind I'll remember you this, I'll remember you this way

There were memories in the walls. 

It didn’t take supernatural powers to know that, watching Kraglin and Peter walk through the hallways in a daze some days, looking at certain things like they held the secrets of the universe. A closet with a bed had made Peter smile, while a dent in the floor had made Kraglin roll his eyes. The remaining figures on the captain’s chair received an amount of respect that the man had only rarely gotten from one and had constantly gotten from the other. 

The first time Peter had stepped into the captain’s quarters, he’d taken one look around and turned right back out; unable to handle those memories, whatever they were, buried deep into his heart. 

Gamora watched the two of them carefully, not interfering, but keeping an eye on them both all the same. If Kraglin turned maudlin too quickly, she thought up something for him to do; if Peter started to look a combination of mad and distressed, she’d hurry over to him and ask him a question about one of his strange terran things. 

It wasn’t perfect. Sometimes she wasn’t there, or she couldn’t think of something, or it was too late and the two of them were well into their grieving, and she would just have to leave them be. Rocket always found Kraglin in those moments, and Groot clambered onto Peter’s shoulder. It was a system, imperfect and messy and not always helpful – but it was a system, and for the most part, it worked. 

She was walking down a hallway, having just left the mess and Drax and Mantis to their eating contest (and she knew who was going to win already, but they looked like they were enjoying themselves, and they had a moment of quiet for once to do that), checking her datapad and the message Nebula had just sent her (Alive. Don’t follow me.) when she came across Kraglin and Peter both in the captain’s quarters. 

She slowed down, looking at them carefully, frowning and wondering if this was a moment she had to interfere or if it was one she had to let them ride out. 

“They’re all dead?” 

Gamora stopped, pressing her back against the wall, and listened. 

“Yep,” Kraglin said, and he drew out the word to show the significance. “Cap’n killed the traitors, Taserface an’ all’a them, one by one. It was quick enough – y’know what Cap’n’s arrow was like.” 

“Faster than any bullet I’d ever fired in my life,” Peter agreed, and Gamora smiled a little at the hint of annoyance in his voice. “And what about those who didn’t mutiny?” 

Kraglin cleared his throat, and Gamora tilted her head, fingers tightening around the datapad. 

She remembered a rough and rowdy crew, filled with men who stank and tight, dirty fingers; remembered a mob, ready to kill Peter on the spot, Kraglin amongst them. She wondered when the crew split in half, and why, and whether or not she would have liked the ones who stayed loyal to Yondu or still detest them. 

“Taserface an’ his lot – they spaced ‘em. Locked ‘em on the other side of the airlock, watched ‘em float out one by one. Oblo, Tullk... the crew that’d always look out fer ya, Pete, those ones. Left t’drift out in the stars, frozen corpses.” Kraglin breathed in heavily, and it sounded shaky and vulnerable. Gamora pressed her back harder against the wall, fighting the urge to march in and give Kraglin something to do. He _needed_ to talk about this. They both did. 

Peter sucked in a breath through his teeth, shifted (she heard the creaking leather); before a thump followed and she was pretty sure he hit the back of his head against the wall. 

“You were the only one to make it out of that mess, then,” he said after a moment, and Kraglin made some kind of agreeing noise; it sounded like a strangled inhale, in a vaguely positive tone. “And the rest of the ship? It hasn’t been so long that I’ve forgotten, Krags, the _Eclector_ had been huge.” 

“Cap’n blew it all up; made any survivors he didn’t get burn fer their trouble.” 

It sounded like vindication and it sounded like mourning and Gamora thought that, in a way, Peter and Kraglin’s entire world had just been destroyed. It wasn’t a planet, and it wasn’t a people, but it was destruction, and she felt for the two of them in that moment more strongly than she ever had.

“...Yondu always needed to have the last word,” Peter eventually said, and Kraglin coughed out a laugh. Gamora pushed herself off of the wall, walking away and leaving the two men alone for now. 

She’d check on them later. 

~+~

“Excuse me, young man, but _you_ should be in bed.” 

Gamora set her hands on her hips, tilting her head and hiding a smile as Groot froze in the middle of his dancing, looking up at her slowly. He had gotten taller, about Rocket’s height, now, and he was taking full advantage of his new height by getting into places he had never been able to before, because he’d been too small and had always had someone watching him. 

She leaned down and scooped up the floral colossus child, setting him on her hip as her father (her real, _true_ father) had always done for her, before walking back down the hallways towards the child’s room. She passed Peter on her way, and slowed down when he looked up and smiled at her. 

“Hey, Gamora.” 

“Peter,” she nodded, watching him carefully. She took in his dry face, and his slightly exhausted expression, and the easy way he held himself, and decided that she’d made the right call in leaving him and Kraglin alone earlier. “Did you need something?” 

“No, it’s all good. Is Groot going to bed?” 

“Yes,” she nodded. Her hair fell over her shoulder, blocking out her peripheral, and before she could even think of moving to push it back, Peter was doing it for her; hands gentle and steady, expression soft and caring. She felt something twist underneath her ribs, a knife of fear, but pushed it back. 

She _wanted_ this softness. This unspoken thing. She wanted to speak about it. 

“He should have been there an hour ago,” she finally continued, looking away from him to hide her smile. Peter’s smile widened, and she looked back at him to take it in. “Who was supposed to put him to bed?” 

“Me,” Peter said, laughing, and Gamora rolled her eyes. “Sorry, I was talking to Kraglin. Alright, buddy.” He reached over, taking Groot from Gamora, and the floral colossus snuggled into his side. 

“I am _Groot_.” 

“Yep, you can listen to my Zune. Got the station set up in your room already.” 

“I am Groot!” 

“No problem, buddy.” Peter turned to start heading to Groot’s room, only pausing and looking back at Gamora after he had walked a few steps. “Oh, and Gamora?” 

“Yes, Peter?” 

“Next time, feel free to join Kraglin and me. We don’t mind sharing memories.” 

He winked at her, turning and leaving her standing in the middle of the hallway. She blinked, mouth hanging open, before she snapped it shut and huffed out a laugh. She was getting soft. _Complacent_. Especially if a terran noticed her eavesdropping. Thanos would be _furious_. 

She found she was perfectly okay with that.


End file.
